Tuesday, 30 October 2012

A Wellcome Notice

Following Peter James’ recent presentation of Deadly Pleasures Magazine’s Barry Award for DEAD MAN’S GRIP [for best British Novel] at Bouchercon Cleveland last month, we’re delighted to hear that James’ techno-thriller Perfect People has been shortlisted for an award, the Wellcome Trust’s celebration of medicine in literature 2012.

A surreal journey of ethics, science, and religion – and as far away from the dark alleyways of Roy Grace’s Brighton as one could get, but a blindingly hot read set at the edges of our reality and indicative that Peter James can carve a thriller as tortuous as the DNA Double-Helix – In a word, remarkable.

And Peter James’ latest Roy Grace Thriller NOT DEAD YET, is riding high in the UK bestseller lists, and the 8th in the series. We’re not surprised as it is a remarkably up to the minute examination of the dark embrace of celebrity culture –

Brighton has become the location for a huge Hollywood blockbuster, featuring the diva Gaia Lafayette [a combination of Madonna and Lady Gaga], now resident in America but who grew up in the more humble origins of Council Estate Brighton.

Lafayette’s role is in a historical thriller that should get her an Oscar for her mantle-piece and move her into the world of film. Grace is under pressure from the fifth floor to ensure nothing goes wrong in Brighton while the film crew is in town. This is especially critical when they discover that Lafayette has some obsessive fans, including a stalker. Grace’s attention and that of his partner Branson is caught when a connection to a dead body [torso only] is discovered in a chicken farm. The connection being to Lafayette.

Despite the density of the plot which features James’ trademarked multi-viewpoints, reptilian like plotline that snakes toward an unseen climax - it reads remarkably fast due to close to 150 ‘clipped’ chapters, many very terse, but all leading to a scary finale in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion.

Here are the six books shortlisted in video format from The Wellcome Trust Award 2012 -

More information about the 6 Shortlisted books in competition for the 2012 Wellcome Trust Book Awards celebrating medicine in literature – click here and to see the previous winners click here

For more information about The Wellcome Trust Book Awards 2012 – click here and more information about Peter James – click here

As Perfect People is the only crime / thriller on the shortlist, we’re cheering it on with gusto, besides it is an exceptional 'edge of the seat 'adventure, but one that acts as a cautionary tale of our times, when as Paul Valery once said ‘The future’s not what it used to be’